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Jeff Sessions Faces Congress Amid New Russia Probe Details

Nov 15 2017

When asked if he had contact with Russia in October, Sessions told the Senate Judiciary Committee he did not have any contact with Russian officials and didn't know of anyone else who did.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee pressed Mr. Sessions to explain whether he was pressured to restart investigations targeting President Trump's former democratic rival. "We will make only decisions we believe are right or just and we will not sue the department to unlawfully advance a political agenda". Sessions later conceded that it was "possible" that Trump's positions on U.S. -Russia relations came up in his discussions with Kislyak. Charging documents in that case indicate that Papadopoulos told the council "that he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump" and Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was after Sessions's recusal that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller 3rd to lead the investigation into the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Those details complicate Sessions' effort to downplay knowledge of the campaign's foreign contacts.

It was not the first time that Sessions, who was a senior Trump campaign aide and Republican senator, has revised his comments about contact between the campaign and Russian Federation.

After the hearing, news reports emerged showing that Sessions had himself met with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak at least twice in 2016.

He similarly recused himself from a separate investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian Federation, and in May, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to lead that probe.

Papadopoulos, who pled guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about his contacts with Russia, told the Trump campaign meeting that he had connections with Moscow and could help arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to court documents.

Conyers repeated the question, and Sessions replied, "I would say that the Department of Justice can never be used to retaliate politically against opponents".

As such, Pirro has offered Trump advice on matters foreign and domestic, with a recent report indicating that she advised the president to appoint a special counsel to investigate the alleged misdeeds of Hillary Clinton, including the former secretary of state's involvement with the Uranium One deal.

"'Looks like' is not enough basis to appoint a special counsel", Sessions said. In particular, they will "make recommendations as to whether any matters not now under investigation should be opened", or whether a special counsel will be needed, states the letter, which was delivered ahead of a committee oversight hearing at which Sessions will appear on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The sale of Uranium One, a Canadian firm with rights to mine US uranium, to a Russian company is in the news again with the Department of Justice signaling it could appoint a special counsel to look into the matter.

Some Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have claimed - without providing evidence - that Russian interests sought to donate to the Clinton Foundation in a bid to persuade Clinton to support the deal.

"Are you recused from investigations that involved Secretary Clinton?"